


The Bereaved Monarch

by StFrancisdeSales



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Comforting thor, Events of Thor (2011), Frigga Feels, Post-Thor (2011), Short, Short One Shot, Thor (2011) - Freeform, Thor loves his mommy, just really short ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 01:42:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7825288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StFrancisdeSales/pseuds/StFrancisdeSales
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Queen of Asgard is about to lose her youngest son. Can she withstand the grief?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Bereaved Monarch

Thunder shook the castle as the mother and wife of gods ran through the hallways, her footing unsteady as the tremors caused the marble under her feet to buck and shiver. She had been so horribly torn; stay by her husband's side or run to where her precious sons were almost certainly beating each other senseless.

Oh her sons... Each so stubborn in their own particular way. She had watched the friendship they once cherished fall apart and knew of the end even before they were aware of it. That was a burden of motherhood; foresight.

She dodged a falling chunk of stone and continued sprinting past windows and columns. The Allfather was so deep in the Odinsleep that not even she seemed to be able to reach him.

Thor had been banished and she was forced to watch helplessly as Loki ascended the throne. Neither of them was yet ready and she had been close to despair as to what to do. Her advisors hesitated to comment on the behaviour of their princes. Now they were locked in combat and she feared she was all but helpless to stop it.

And yet, she had to try.

Emerging from the grand entrance, the Queen of Asgard saw the Rainbow Bridge spread out before her. Loki, the younger Prince, was sprawled on the shimmering expanse. Thor raised Mjolnir high above his head and smashed it down onto the bridge.

Frigga gasped involuntarily and clutched at the nearest pillar to keep from falling, fresh waves of shudders running through the palace floor.

Down came the hammer, again and again. Frigga could see Loki call something, his golden helmet shining in the harsh light as he shouted, but she was too far away to hear the words. Thor seemed to pause, hammer in mid-air.

Then Mjolnir fell.

The Bridge cracked and shuddered. It seemed as though Thor had succeeded when Frigga felt a great gust of air pass her. She looked up just in time to see Odin, astride mighty Sleipnir, thunder past her.

The father of Thor and Loki rode with all his strength down toward the pair and before Frigga could even stop to wonder how he had emerged from the Odinsleep, the shockwave hit her. She flew backward into the palace, hit a wall, and knew no more.

 

The next thing she felt were two strong arms encircling her. Her eyes blinked open and it was Odin, looking down at her, concern creasing his face. Thor was bent over his father's shoulder, watching with equal anxiety. Her eyes strayed around the hall, but she could not see-

"Loki?" She looked up at Odin, a numb certainty she tried to push away etching blackness into her heart with every breath. "Where is my son?"

Odin's expression darkened and he looked away from her questing eyes as he gently lifted her to a standing position. Her eyes sought Thor, her older son, but he too looked away.

"No..." Frigga's eyes instantly swum with tears she had no time to force back and her shaking hands clutched at Odin’s cape, searching stability in a world rapidly falling around her. "No, it cannot be true."

Thor's voice was deep with sorrow. "I tried to save him, Mother. But he..." The rumble of his voice ended and it seemed he could not continue.

Odin's arms remained around his wife, protectively. "Loki was brought low by pride." His one remaining eye seemed to look past his wife and son, into space. "And now that pride, and he, are ended."

Frigga closed her eyes and surrendered to the pain in her heart. She turned and sobbed into her husband's chest. It did not seem possible. Her youngest, the baby Odin had rescued so long ago from Juntenhiem. Her precious baby boy.

Thor rested one hand on his mother's shoulder as he too surrendered to grief.

 

Later, much later, Frigga roamed the halls, unable to be still. The emptiness, the disbelief filled her until she could neither sleep nor eat. It was a loss of far worse pain than any she had ever felt.

Passing one door, then another, her eyes were unfocused. She came across one chamber she remembered so well, once her eyes finally settled on it. She hesitated to walk past it so fast. For a moment she lingered and moved toward the tall, gleaming doors.

It was the place she had nursed Loki, both as a babe and into his maturity. He had been a sickly child, despite his gigantic heritage, and needed much tending.

Without warning, as she watched the ghosts of the past flit by her mind’s eye, the door opened and a guard emerged bearing an armful of clothes. She could see the gleam of dark leather, the deep green, and perhaps a mere suggestion of gold.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded, rushing forward and wresting the clothes from the startled man.

"Your Majesty,” replied the guard, when he had recovered from the shock of being rushed by his queen. “I was clearing Prince Loki's room."

Fresh tears stung Frigga's eyes even as she fought them back, struggling to maintain her regal bearing. Almost against her will, she crushed the bundle to her chest.

"You will do no such thing,” she replied, eventually, when she felt she could trust her voice to remain stead. “Now be gone."

Sweeping past the shocked guard before he could compose himself afresh, she slammed the door behind her. On the threshold, she paused for a deep, steadying breath, before walking slowly in, and placing the clothes on the bed. Tears started to stream down her face as she painstakingly folded every item and placed it back in the chest it had come from.

Then she turned back to the bed, silent tears flowing unceasingly and uncontrollably, and picked up the helmet. Thor had retrieved it from the shattered Rainbow Bridge and she placed it in a position of honour on a high shelf. Returning to the bed she sank down onto it and stared into space.

 

Hours later, Thor came looking for his mother and after several minutes of searching realized with a heavy certainty where she must have gone. He opened the door to his dead brother's room slowly, respectfully, and peered inside.

There she was, still sitting proudly and tall. Her face was dry now, she had cried for so long there were no tears left. Her handsome face remained facing straight, her shimmering golden hair cascading in unruly waves over her shoulders, and her long, elegant gown a shimmering black.

"Mother..." Thor spoke softly and moved toward her, kneeling at her feet. The proud prince of Asgard would never have thought of kneeling before any other creature in all the Realms. He took one of her slender hands tenderly and gazed up into her grief-stricken face. The profound suffering he saw there made his own heartache swell.

"Mother,” he began slowly. “Isn't it time to-"

"No!"

Gasping out the word Frigga cast aside his hand and stood, pushing away from her only remaining son. She strode rapidly to the shelf and took down the helmet.

Thor watched in helpless agony. Frigga clutched the golden horns to her bosom and stood with her back to him.

"Never,” she stated. “He shall return."

The words were a fresh stab in the thunder god’s heart. He rose and moved to her, placing one massive hand on her slender shoulder.

"Mother... He is gone."

"Liar!" she screamed. Thor looked into eyes seeming fairly mad with grief. "He shall return, I tell you! Do not contradict your mother!"

Giving a dry sob she clung to the helmet tighter.

However hard her son tried, Frigga, Queen of Asgard would say no more, so Thor left her to her pain.

 

The bereaved monarch refused to leave the room for days after, insisting to anyone who spoke to her that Loki would return and his room needed to be ready. She took to straightening the room when she wasn't holding the helmet. Occasionally she slept in the grand bed, but always when she awoke, she would make it smooth once more.

The realm of Asgard slowly resigned themselves to having lost a prince to death and queen to madness.


End file.
